Panel Fastener

ABSTRACT

The panel fastener has two components, each of which is mounted on an end piece of a wall panel and which are slid together to secure adjacent wall panels together. The two components have mating shapes that cause the components to move towards each other as components slide together in order to move and secure the pair of panels together in a tightened manner.

This application claims the benefit of Provisional Patent Application61/587,164 filed Jan. 17, 2012 and is a Division of U.S. Ser. No.13/723,307, filed Dec. 21, 2012.

The invention relates to a panel fastener. More particularly, thisinvention relates to a panel fastener for cooler room walls.

As is known, panel fasteners have been incorporated into the sides ofpanels that are used to connect adjacent panels together to form a wallor walls in various types of structures, for example, a refrigeratorwall panel as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,671,006. In suchconstructions, two or more panel fasteners are usually located in thewall panels along the side edges and each includes a hook which can berotated into or out of engagement with a cooperative pin in an adjacentpanel.

Generally, panel fasteners are made in a symmetrical manner with a hookassembly sandwiched between a pair of plates. The hook assembly usuallyhas a hub rotatably mounted in the plates via a boss or the like in eachplate, an, eccentric mounted on the hub for rotation therewith and ahook mounted on the eccentric for rotation therewith. In addition, thehub is provided with a socket at each end to eventually receive awrench. As the hub rotates, so also does the hook rotate. Examples ofsuch panel fasteners are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,365,851 and4,574,537. One of the problems associated with these panels is the needfor a wrench to secure adjacent panels together. As a result, time isrequired in order to manipulate the wrench to adjust each hook assemblyof a panel in order to secure the panel to an adjacent panel. Inaddition, time may be lost when a suitable wrench is not readilyavailable.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a panelfastener that does not require a wrench for activation.

It is another object of the invention to be able to construct a coolerroom wall in a minimum of time.

It is another object of the invention to simplify the process ofsecuring wall panels together to form a wall.

Briefly, the invention provides a panel fastener for securing adjacentpanels of a cooler wall or the like together in side-by-side relation.

The panel fastener is formed of two components that are constructed tobe individually mounted on facing sides of two adjacent wall panels andto mate with each other in a slide fit manner when the wall panels arebrought together.

One component of the panel fastener is formed as a female component andhas a back wall including at least one opening for passage of a mountingelement therethrough in order to mount the component on the side edge ofa wall panel as well as a front wall having a longitudinally disposedslot aligned with the opening in the back wall. In addition, the frontwall is spaced from and parallel to the back wall to define a cavitytherewith.

In one embodiment, the first component is made of metal and the backwall has a pair of longitudinally spaced apart openings while the slotin the front wall has a pair of enlarged sections, each of which isaligned with a respective opening in the back wall.

The other component of the panel fastener is formed as a male componentand has a back wall including at least one opening for passage of amounting element therethrough in order to mount the component on theside edge of second wall panel as well as a projection extending fromthe back wall. This projection has a T-shaped cross-section including alongitudinally extending stem to be received in the slot of said panelfastener component and a longitudinally extending flange to be receivedin the cavity of said first component.

In the first embodiment of the panel fastener, the second component isalso made of metal and the back wall of the component has a pair oflongitudinally spaced apart openings with the projection disposedbetween the openings.

The two components are constructed so that the flange of the projectionof the one component can slide into the cavity of the other componentwhen the two components are longitudinally slid together while the stemof the projection slide through the slot of the other component.

In a second embodiment of the panel fastener, the two components havemating shapes that cause the first component and the second component tomove towards each other as the components slide together to move a pairof panels together in a tightened manner. In this embodiment, the secondcomponent has a body of U-shaped cross-section received in the slot ofthe first component and a pair of flanges extending outwardly from thebody and received in the cavity of the first component.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become moreapparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exploded view of a pair of walls of a cooler thatemploy wall panels and panel fasteners in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of a female panel fastenercomponent mounted on a section of an end piece of a wall panel of FIG.1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of the male panel fastenercomponent of FIG. 2 mounted on a section of an end piece of a wall panelof FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of the female component of thepanel fastener in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective view of the male component of the panelfastener in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective view of a modified male panel fastenercomponent mounted on a section of an end piece of a cooler wall inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a perspective view of a modified female panelfastener component for cooperating with the female panel fastenercomponent of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 illustrates a perspective view of the panel fastener componentsof FIGS. 6 and 7 in mated relation.

Referring to FIG. 1, a pair of cooler walls 10 are disposed inperpendicular relation to each other and are connected together at acorner (not shown). In this respect, only two walls 10 of the coolerneed be illustrated for an understanding of the invention.

Each cooler wall 10 is constructed of a plurality of wall panels 11 thatare disposed in side-by-side co-linear relation.

The wall panels 11 are of similar or identical construction. Forexample, each wall panel 11 has a main section 12 of any suitableconstruction and a pair of vertical end pieces 13, 13′ as viewed. Oneend piece 13 is formed with a longitudinally extending groove 14 thatextends over the length of the end piece 13 while the other end piece13′ is formed with a longitudinally extending rib 15 that is sized tomate within the groove 14 of an adjacent wall panel 11.

The main section 12 of each wall panel 11 is made of any suitablematerials. For example, the main section 11 may be made of wood,foamed-in-place materials, or any other conventional construction.

As shown in FIG. 1, the end piece 13 of each panel 11 has one component16 of a two-component panel fastener mounted thereon within the groove14 while the other end piece 13′ has a second component 17 of thetwo-component fastener mounted on the rib 15. Each component 16, 17 ofthe panel fastener is illustrated as being mounted mid-height of thewall panel 11. However, the components 16, 17 of a panel fastener may bemounted at any suitable height of a wall panel and two or more panelfasteners may be used to secure two wall panels together as isconventional.

Referring to FIG. 2, the panel fastener component 16 is formed as afemale component and is disposed to fit across the base of the groove 14while being recessed within the plane of the groove 14.

Referring to FIG. 3, the rib 15 of the end piece 13′ is provided with arectangular recess 18 and the panel fastener component 17 is fittedwithin the recess 18 in a recessed manner. The longitudinal length ofthe recess 18 is sufficient to allow the female panel fastener component16 to be fitted into the recess 18 and to thereafter slide into matingrelation with the other panel fastener component 17.

Referring to FIG. 4, the panel fastener component 16 has a back wall 19including a pair of openings 26, such as counterbores, for passage of apair of mounting elements, such as wood screws (not shown), and a frontwall 20 having a longitudinally disposed slot 21 aligned with theopenings 26 in the back wall 19. The front wall 20 is spaced from andparallel to the back wall 19 to define a cavity 22 therewith. As shown,the panel fastener component 16 is of a cubic shape and may be easilymanufactured.

The slot 21 and cavity 22 of the female fastener component 16 from aT-shaped passage within the component to slidably receive the otherfastener component 17. The slot 21 also has a pair of enlarged recesses23 on opposite sides in alignment with the openings 21 to allow for thepassage of the mounting elements when the female fastener component issecured to the end piece 13 (see FIG. 2).

Referring to FIG. 5, the panel fastener component 17 is formed as a malecomponent and has a back wall 24 including a pair of openings 25 forpassage of a pair of mounting elements, such as wood screws, and aprojection 26 extending from the back wall 24 of the component 17. Theprojection 26 has a T-shaped cross-section including a longitudinallyextending stem 27 to be received in the slot 21 of said first component16 and a longitudinally extending flange 28 to be received in the cavity22 of the first component 16.

In use, the components 16, 17 of each panel fastener are mounted on theend pieces 13, 13′ of each wall panel 11 as indicated in FIG. 1, forexample, during manufacture of each wall panel. Thereafter, the end ofone wall panel 11 is brought adjacent to the end of another wall panel11 with the groove 14 of the one wall panel 11 aligned with the rib 15of the other wall panel and with the panel fastener components 16, 17longitudinally aligned one above the above within the recess 18. Onewall panel 11 is then moved vertically relative to the other wall panel11 to pass the projection 25 of the male component 17 into the cavity 22of the female component 16 while the stem 26 slides through the slot 21.For example, one wall panel 11 is moved so that the female fastenercomponent 16 is moved downwardly to pass over the projection 26 of themale fastener component 17 with the stem 27 of the projection 26 slidingthrough the slot 21 of the female fastener component 16 and the flange28 sliding into the cavity 22.

A downward vertical movement of the two wall panels 11 relative to eachother is limited by the wall panels 11 bottoming on a common supportsurface or by the fastener component 16 bottoming in the recess 18 inthe end piece 13′.

Referring to FIG. 1, the fastener components 16, 17 are mounted in theend pieces 13 in a recessed manner so as not to project from the planeof the respective end piece 13. Typically, the surface of the flange 28of the male component 17 is flush with the plane of the surface of therib 15 of the end piece 13′.

Referring to FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, wherein like reference charactersindicate like parts as above, in another embodiment, the panel fastenercomponents 29, 30 have mating shapes that cause the two components tomove with an x-vector so that, as the two components 29, 30 slidetogether, the two components 29, 30 also move the wall panels on whichthey are secured together laterally in a tightened manner.

Referring to FIG. 6, the male panel fastener component 29 is mountedwithin a recess 18 in the rib 15 of an end piece 13′ of a cooler walland is secured in place, for example, by mounting elements such as woodscrews (not shown) that pass through openings 25 (only one of which isshown) in the component 29.

As illustrated, the male panel fastener component 29 is of one-piececonstruction with a body 31 of U-shaped cross-section from which twoflanges 32 extend outwardly. The component 29 is shaped such that oneend is larger than the opposite end. That is, the body 31 of U-shapedcross-section tapers from one end to the opposite end.

Referring to FIG. 7, the female panel fastener component 30 is mountedwithin a recess 33 in the groove 14 of an end piece 13 of a cooler walland is secured in place, for example, by mounting elements such as woodscrews (not shown) that pass through openings 26 in the component 30.

As illustrated, the female panel fastener component 30 is of one-piececonstruction similar to the component 16 of FIG. 4. In this respect, thecomponent 30 has a back wall 34 including a pair of openings 26 forpassage of a pair of mounting elements, such as wood screws (not shown),and a front wall 35 having a longitudinally disposed slot 36 alignedwith the openings 26 in the back wall 34. The front wall 35 is spacedfrom the back wall 34 to define a cavity 37 therewith.

The component 30 is shaped such that one end is larger than the oppositeend. That is, the front wall 35 tapers at an angle relative to the backwall 34 so that the cavity 37 is of smaller height at one end than atthe opposite end.

As illustrated, the recess 33 in the end piece 13 receives the femalepanel fastener component 30 in a recessed manner to locate the component30 in a fixed position and together with the mounting elements (notshown) provides a firm securement of the component 30 in place.

As in the first described embodiment, the components 29, 30 serve tosecure two adjacent wall panels 10 together by sliding of the twocomponents 29, 30 together into mating relation and into a position asshown in FIG. 8. In this respect, the female panel fastener component 30is fitted into the recess 18 above the male panel fastener component 29(see FIG. 6) with the larger end of the female panel fastener component30 facing the larger end of the male panel fastener component 29. As thetwo adjacent panels move vertically relative to each other, e.g. with ay-vector, the female panel fastener component 30 moves over the malepanel fastener component 29. During this time, the spacing between thefront wall 35 of the female component 30 and the flanges 32 of the malecomponent 29 narrows until the front wall 35 and flanges 32 come intocontact. Thereafter, the front wall 35 slides on the flanges 32 causingthe two components 29, 30 and the wall panels on which they are securedto move with an x-vector thereby closing any gap between the wallpanels.

In other embodiments, the wall panels 11 may be provided with two ormore panel fasteners 16, 17 in spaced apart relation for securing pairsof wall panels together at two or more points as in conventional.

Further, the panel fasteners 16, 17 may be used to secure two wallpanels 11 together in perpendicular or angular relation by a suitablearrangement of the end pieces 13, 13′ relative to the remainder of thewall panels 11.

Thus, the invention provides a panel fastener that does not require awrench for activation.

Further, the invention allows the construction of a cooler room wall ina minimum of time and in a simple manner as there is no need for specialtools to secure adjacent panels together.

10

What is claimed is:
 1. A panel fastener comprising a first componenthaving a back wall including at least one opening for passage of amounting element therethrough and a front wall having a longitudinallydisposed slot aligned with said opening in said back wall, said frontwall being spaced from said back wall to define a cavity therewith; anda second component having a cross-sectional shape for slidably mountingin said slot and said cavity of said first component, said secondcomponent having a body of U-shaped cross-section received in andextending through said slot of said first component and a pair offlanges extending outwardly from said body and received in said cavityof said first component.
 2. A panel fastener as set forth in claim 1wherein said U-shaped body of said second component tapers from one endto an opposite end whereby said second component has one end larger thanan opposite end.
 3. A panel fastener as set forth in claim 2 whereinsaid front wall of said first component tapers at an angle relative tosaid back wall of said first component and said cavity is of smallerheight at one end than at an opposite end thereof.
 4. A wall comprisinga pair of panels, each said panel having a vertically disposed end piecefacing a vertically disposed end piece of the other of said pair ofpanels; and at least one panel fastener securing said pair of panelstogether, said panel fastener having a first component having a backwall secured to said end piece of one of said pair of panels and a frontwall spaced from said back wall to define a cavity therewith, said frontwall having a longitudinally disposed slot therein; and a secondcomponent slidably mounted in said first component and having a body ofU-shaped cross-section received in and extending through said slot ofsaid first component and a pair of flanges extending outwardly from saidbody and received in said cavity of said first component.
 5. A wall asset forth in claim 4 wherein said first component and said secondcomponent have mating shapes that cause said first component and saidsecond component to move towards each other as said components slidetogether to move said pair of panels together in a tightened manner. 6.A wall as set forth in claim 5 wherein said front wall of said firstcomponent tapers at an angle relative to said back wall of said firstcomponent and said cavity is of smaller height at one end than at anopposite end thereof and said second component has one end larger thanan opposite end thereof.
 7. A wall as set forth in claim 5 wherein saidU-shaped body of said second component tapers from one end to anopposite end and said front wall of said first component tapers at anangle relative to said back wall of said first component and said cavityis of smaller height at one end than at an opposite end thereof.